Washburn v. Court Ordered Benefits Section

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 11, 2023
DocketCivil Action No. 2021-1281
StatusPublished

This text of Washburn v. Court Ordered Benefits Section (Washburn v. Court Ordered Benefits Section) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Washburn v. Court Ordered Benefits Section, (D.D.C. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

CHOO WASHBURN,

Plaintiff,

v. Civil Action No. 21-1281 (TJK) U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAG- MENT,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiff sued the Office of Personnel Management, seeking to redirect federal-retirement-

benefit payments linked to her ex-husband’s federal service that it is paying to her court-appointed

guardian. But Congress has vested the exclusive power to decide such issues in other adjudicative

bodies. So the Court must dismiss most of her claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. To

the extent the Court has jurisdiction, it will dismiss her complaint for failing to state a claim.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

Plaintiff alleges that the Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”) has failed to pay her

benefits correctly. See ECF No. 27 (“Compl.”) at 5–12. She says her former husband, a retired

federal employee, has benefits payable under the Civil Service Retirement System, Compl. at 6,

and that she is entitled to roughly a third of those benefits, Compl. at 5. But OPM, she explains,

is paying her share of those benefits to a person named Robert McCarthy instead. Compl. at 5–6. She attributes those payments to computer hack, for which she says OPM is responsible. 1 See

Compl. at 6. She asks the Court for a writ of mandamus compelling OPM to pay the annuity to

her. See Compl. at 10–11.

But Plaintiff acknowledges that McCarthy is a court-appointed guardian of her property.

See Compl. at 17 ¶ 19, 40 ¶ 9. A Maryland state court imposed that guardianship on Plaintiff after

concluding that she was “unable to manage her property and affairs effectively.” Washburn v.

McCarthy, No. 20-37, 2021 WL 4477449, at *1 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. Sept. 30, 2021) (quotation

omitted). Plaintiff considers that order “absolutely WRONG.” Compl. at 17 ¶ 19.

Plaintiff further asserts entitlement to health-insurance coverage under a federal plan. See

Compl. at 21–23. She also claims that she is owed another type of benefits, in part because her

former husband did not disclose them during their divorce proceedings. See Compl. at 23–25.

Finally, Plaintiff has corresponded several times with OPM about her claims. See Compl.

at 15, 17, 19–22, 24. At first, she says it paid her benefits appropriately under what Plaintiff

describes as OPM’s decision on her approved application. Compl. at 19–20. It is thus possible to

construe her claims against OPM as being based on the agency’s mistake, inadvertence, or failure

to consider her position. But OPM says it has now rendered a final decision on her requests, insofar

as they are within the agency’s power. ECF No. 48-1 ¶ 4. OPM has concluded that it must pay

benefits owed to Plaintiff to McCarthy as her representative payee under the guardianship order of

the Maryland state court. ECF No. 48-2 at 6.

1 Specifically, she believes her former husband hacked her annuity account. See Compl. at 14 ¶¶ 7–9. She faults OPM for failing to investigate her claim once she brought it to the agency’s attention. See ECF No. 28 at 4–5.

2 B. Procedural History

Plaintiff sued what she called the “Court Ordered Benefits Section” of OPM, asking for an

order compelling the agency to record the disputed annuity as belonging to her and to make its

payments directly to her. See ECF No. 1 at 2–4. She also requested orders directing other pay-

ments to her and directing the conversion of assets managed by McCarthy into other forms. See

id. at 4–8. Plaintiff originally obtained a Clerk’s Entry of Default, ECF No. 13, but that default

was vacated with Plaintiff’s consent after OPM appeared. See ECF Nos. 22–24; Min. Order of

June 1, 2022. OPM moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, ECF No. 25, and

Plaintiff amended her complaint in response, ECF No. 27. Because Plaintiff had the right to amend

her pleading under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1)(B), the Court denied OPM’s first motion to dismiss as

moot. Min. Order of June 14, 2022.

Plaintiff then moved to “withdraw” part of her prior filings and to substitute new legal

authorities in place of those already asserted. ECF No. 28. The Court construes that motion as

one for further amendments of Plaintiff’s complaint. The same day, Plaintiff filed another motion

to “attach” various portions of her original complaint to her then-operative complaint, ECF No. 29,

which the Court also construes as a motion to amend her complaint.

OPM reasserted its motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. ECF No. 31.

It contends that the Civil Service Reform Act (“CSRA”) divests this Court of jurisdiction in favor

of an exhaustive administrative remedial scheme. See ECF No. 31-1 at 10–13. It also noted that—

at that time—it had not yet “rendered a final decision” on Plaintiff’s requests. Id. at 13–14. Plain-

tiff responded to that motion in part by moving for summary judgment. ECF No. 39. She also

again asked to amend her operative complaint by appending some materials she had already filed.

See ECF No. 40.

3 During further briefing on those motions, OPM notified the Court that it had rendered a

final decision on Plaintiff’s requests before the agency. ECF No. 48 at 9; see also ECF Nos. 48–1,

48-2. Seemingly based on that representation, Plaintiff moved to amend her complaint once more

to add claims arising from what she calls OPM’s false statements that it had rendered a final deci-

sion against her. See ECF No. 52 at 1–2.

II. Legal Standards

Under Rule 12(b)(1), Plaintiff has the burden to establish the Court’s subject-matter juris-

diction. DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno, 547 U.S. 332, 342 (2006). That burden includes the

obligation to “establish by a preponderance of the evidence” that a jurisdiction-stripping statute,

such as the CSRA, does not preclude the Court’s consideration of the case. See Martin v. EPA,

271 F. Supp. 2d 38, 43 (D.D.C. 2002). In evaluating its jurisdiction at the pleading stage, the Court

generally should “assume the truth of all material factual allegations in the complaint

and . . . grant[ Plaintiff] the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged.”

Am. Nat’l Ins. Co. v. FDIC, 642 F.3d 1137, 1139 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (quotation omitted). That is

particularly true here because Plaintiff proceeds pro se; the Court must “liberally construe[ ]” her

filings and hold her to a “less stringent standard.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007).

But she still has the burden to prove subject-matter jurisdiction. Bickford v. United States, 808 F.

Supp. 2d 175, 179 (D.D.C. 2011). In evaluating whether she has met that burden, the Court may

consider the allegations in her complaint, the undisputed facts in the record, and, if necessary, its

resolution of disputed facts. Coal. for Underground Expansion v. Mineta, 333 F.3d 193, 198 (D.C.

Cir. 2003).

To the extent the Court has subject-matter jurisdiction, the question is whether Plaintiff has

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